Police Arrest Alleged Hitman for Cold-Blooded Murder of Law Professor
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Josh Nathan-Kazis May 26, 2016
Florida police have arrested a man suspected of the murder of Dan Markel, a Jewish law professor who was shot in his Tallahassee driveway in 2014.
Authorities arrested Sigfredo Garcia, 34, at a Miami-area gas station on May 25, and charged him with first-degree murder.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported May 26 that Markel’s death is being investigated as a murder for hire, and that law enforcement officials expect to make further arrests in the case.
The Tallahassee Police Department said in a statement that they had investigated and vetted hundreds of leads on the case that came in through a telephone hotline.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with other state and federal agencies, assisted in the department’s effort.
“This is still an active criminal investigation,” said the chief of the Tallahassee Police Department, Michael DeLeo, in a statement. “My heart and prayers are with the Markel family as they continue to grieve for their loss. My only hope is that today’s information will offer some solace to the family and, in some small way, help them to heal.”
Markel was a well-known legal scholar at Florida State University. He was prominent in online legal circles as a founder of the website PrawfsBlog, and was an active member of a Conservative Jewish congregation in Tallahassee.
In the wake of the murder, police investigated vitriolic online comments targeting Markel on a number of blogs.
A memorial fund honoring Markel raised $54,000 for the benefit of his two young sons.
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